Spanish investigators leading the investigation disclosed this to the American publication on condition of anonymity. The newspaper called the cartridges important evidence pointing to the identity of the perpetrators, as the cartridges are standard ammunition in the countries of the former communist bloc.
As The New York Times has learned, Kuzminov left Ukraine in October 2023, although he was offered to stay there after the helicopter hijacking to fight against Russia. The pilot was set in the Spanish town of Villajoyosa, on the Mediterranean coast, popular with tourists from Britain and Eastern Europe. He lived in an apartment block ten minutes’ walk from the beach.
Villajoyosa’s choice of residential area is curious, the NYT writes, because the Russian authorities have made no secret of the fact that they want to kill Kuzminov. According to Spanish authorities, Russian organized crime groups operate in the region, some of which are associated with Russian intelligence services. An unnamed Russian military defector living in Spain, speaking to the NYT, described the region where Kuzminov settled as a “red zone,” full of Russian operatives. “I will never go there,” he said.
Kuzminov led an “unreasonable life” in Spain, a senior Civil Guard official, who is overseeing the murder investigation, told the publication. The former pilot went to bars popular with Russians and Ukrainians and spent the money he received from the Ukrainian authorities, for example, driving around the town of Villajoyosa in a black Mercedes S-Class, which he bought after arriving in Spain.
The assassins found Kuzminov after he wrote to his ex-girlfriend. After killing the pilot, they drove over his body.
How exactly the killers got to Kuzminov has yet to be determined, but two senior Ukrainian officials told the NYT that the pilot contacted his ex-girlfriend, who was in Russia, and invited her to to come to him in Spain. “It was a serious mistake,” one official said.
On the morning of February 13, a white Hyundai Tucson arrived at the underground garage of the block where Kuzminov lived. The car parked between the elevator and the ramp leading to the street. According to an employee of the Civil Guard, the two assassins waited for Kuzminov for several hours.
Around 16.20 Kuzminov entered the garage, parked and went to the elevator. The attackers got out of the car, shouted at Kuzminov and shot him six times. Wounded, the pilot took a few steps and fell down the ramp. Leaving the crime scene, the attackers ran over the man’s body. “The message was clear: I will find you, kill you, crush you and humiliate you,” said a senior Civil Guard official.
Police officials believe the two hooded killers caught on surveillance footage from the garage are clearly professionals, quickly killed Kuzminov and disappeared. The criminals’ car was found a few kilometers from the scene of the incident, burned with special materials, investigators believe.
Experts were able to identify the make and model of the car within a week. It turned out that the car had been stolen two days before the murder, in Murcia, a city located an hour’s drive from Villajoyosa.
A special unit of the Civil Guard conducts the investigation in strict secrecy. Spanish authorities have not publicly confirmed that Maxim Kuzminov was killed. Spanish investigators are trying to contact officials in Ukraine who may be able to help them.
Senior police officers told the New York Times that the killing of Maxim Kuzminov has the same characteristics as the killing of former Chechen leader Zelimhan Hangoshvili in Berlin in 2019 and the attempted assassination of former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England , in 2018. Russian intelligence services were suspected of these crimes.
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Tags: Details Assassination Spain Russian Pilot Maxim Kuzminov Handed Helicopter Ukraine
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